Libyan plane hijack ends peacefully in Malta

Aircraft with 118 people on board was hijacked by men claiming to have hand grenades who threatened to blow it up.

Two hijackers of a Libyan aircraft with 118 people on board surrendered to authorities on the island of Malta hours after claiming to have hand grenades and threatening to blow the plane up unless their demands were met.

Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said on Twitter that all passengers and crew had been safely released by Friday evening.

The hijackers, Muscat said, had “surrendered” and been “searched and taken in custody”.

The prime minister said the hijackers had one pistol and one hand grenade on them, and a second handgun was later found on the plane.

One of the hijackers told the flight crew of the Afriqiyah Airways plane that he was “pro-Gaddafi”. Former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was killed in an uprising in 2011, and the country has been racked by factional violence since.

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